Fruitless Endeavors

There's no time to waste time.

I have undoubtedly wasted a lot of time in my life.

As an adult, I have likely wasted an inordinate amount of hours on activities that didn’t benefit me or my family in any perceivable way. Heck, I have probably spent the equivalent of weeks just stressing out about things that I have to do in any given day. This is one of the major things I’ve been working on in the last several weeks - having a schedule, staying mindful, and reducing stress as much as possible. But that’s a post for another day.

To stick with the theme: I don’t want to waste your time, so I’ll get right to the point.

Before 2020, I didn’t put much thought into whether a particular activity I would partake in was going to bear specific results in certain areas of my life. This included the political realm, where I enthusiastically supported the formation of the Libertarian Party Mises Caucus. The proof is right here for everyone to see and/or hear - I’m not hiding from what I once supported.

I have recently been critical of the Mises Caucus strategy from time to time - as I was most recently in an interview with my friend Pete on The Pete Quinones Show. Back in 2016, I was enthusiastic and what some might even call a “top recruiter” for both the LPMC and the Libertarian Party.

Was I enthusiastic because I thought the Libertarian Party was not only going to be taken over by the “real” libertarians, but would go on to win major elections and become a national force in politics?

No, I wasn’t enthusiastic for those reasons.

I was enthusiastic for the same reason most people got involved with the LPMC - to influence the Libertarian Party to be “more libertarian” so that when people do see an LP talking head, they would actually hear true libertarian ideas instead of the half-assed, barely-even-resembling libertarian ideas of the previous Gary Johnson-Bill Weld LP Presidential ticket.

But I also had no delusions about what would come of it. I saw it as a “why not?” type of activity. Worst case, a bunch of people spend a bunch of time knocking on doors and hanging out at conventions with fellow like-minded people. Best case, it really did set ablaze a fire of liberty across the nation and inspire millions like the Ron Paul campaign did for me.

Well, it’s not 2016 anymore kids. It’s 2022. And if your life is still full of fruitless endeavors - especially if, at the same time, you would be struggling to support yourself and your family if you lost your job tomorrow - I implore you to reconsider some of those activities in favor of activities that *do* bear fruit.

And I’m not even talking about politics here. Developing new skills, starting a business or even just a side hustle are what anyone who is dependent on a single source of income aka “a job” should be doing first and foremost right now.

If you've got that down and know that if you lose your job tomorrow, you will have no problem supporting yourself and your family going forward, then maybe it’s time to use some of that financial freedom and attempt to make change politically. But if you are putting the latter before the former - and even worse, if you are doing the political end in such a way that there is not even a possible victory in sight - than I ask you to learn from me, and put yourself in a better position instead of running on the hamster wheel of third party politics.

Yes, it’s true that I was very enthusiastic about the LPMC in 2016.

It’s also true that I’m not the same person I was in 2016, nor are we living in the same world.

To be clear, I have many, many people I like and care about in the Mises Caucus, and everything I say on the LPMC is out of love, not out of malice.

If you’ve had thoughts about putting yourself in a better position by living or spending time overseas, you’re going to want to check out my friend Mikkel Thorup’s podcast The Expat Money Show. I was recently a guest on the show, check it out here.

And if one of your side hustles or business endeavors is starting a podcast or growing and monetizing the one you already have, book a consultation with me to take you to the next level!